Ed McMahon while working on behalf of the MDA 2005 Telethon. Image Credit: Charity.com
Sidekick, Pitchman, Trusted Friend Ed McMahon Dead At 86
It was a little over one year ago when all anyone could hear, and then remember about the famous, almost indelible sidekick of late night television, Ed McMahon was that he was about to loose his multi-million dollar mansion to foreclosure. He appeared on many entertainment shows, getting the word out so that he might get some help with his plight and use it as a story to maybe gain some additional attention for the causes he was involved in.
Well, Ed McMahon did not have to move out of his house, in the end, for he still called it his residence until today. Ed McMahon has passed away, and was pronounced dead at the Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, his publicist, Howard Bragman, reported Tuesday ... Ed McMahon was 86.
Ed McMahon in his most familiar pose, next to Johnny Carson - He's one of the few stars who used to answer his phone or return calls, without the intercession of an army of millionaire publicists or managers or agents. Image Credit: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
This excerpted and edited from CNN -
Ed McMahon dies at 86 CNN - By Todd Leopold - 6-23-2009
Carson made cracks about McMahon's weight, his drinking and the pair's trouble with divorce. McMahon was married three times; Carson, who died in 2005, had four wives.
McMahon was also the show's designated pitchman, a talent he honed to perfection during "Tonight's" 30-year run with Carson, even if sometimes the in-show commercial spots fell flat.
For one of the show's regular sponsors, Alpo dog food, McMahon usually extolled the virtues of the product while a dog eagerly gobbled down a bowl. But one day the show's regular dog wasn't available, and the substitute pooch wasn't very hungry.
McMahon recalled the incident in his 1998 memoir, "For Laughing Out Loud."
"Then I saw Johnny come into my little commercial area. He got down on his hands and knees and came over to me. ... I started to pet Johnny. Nice boss, I was thinking as I pet him on the head, nice boss. By this point the audience was hysterical. ... I just kept going. I was going to get my commercial done. 'The next time you're looking at the canned dog food ...' -- he rubbed his cheek against my leg -- " ... reach for the can that contains real beef.' Johnny got up on his knees and started begging for more. I started petting him again ... and then he licked my hand." ---- Though McMahon was well-rewarded by NBC -- the 1980 People article listed his salary between $600,000 and $1 million -- his divorces and some poor investments took their toll. In June 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon was $644,000 in arrears on a $4.8 million loan for a home in Beverly Hills, California, and his lender had filed a notice of default.
McMahon and his wife, Pamela, told CNN's Larry King that McMahon had gotten caught in a spate of financial problems. "If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that," said McMahon, who added that he hadn't worked much since the neck injury.
McMahon later struck a deal that allowed him to stay in the house.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and five children. A sixth child, McMahon's son Michael, died in 1995.
McMahon, 86, was hospitalized in February with pneumonia and other medical problems. Reference Here>>
What was the actual character of Ed McMahon? Well, this article written by Verne Gay about a year ago for Newsday in the TV Zone section was quite revealing and exposes another character quality that seems in short supply in our culture today, here in the early 21st Century.
This excerpted and edited from Newsday -
Ed McMahon: Pass the Hat? The TV Zone - Posted by Verne Gay on June 5, 2008
Ed was trusted by Johnny Carson. The best I can tell, Carson trusted him COMPLETELY. Very few people earned a Carson seal-of-approval, including his former wives. Besides his nephew, Jeff Sotzing, and longtime friend, producer, confidante, Peter Lassally, Ed is the only person who comes immediately to mind who, in fact, did.
Now, what did this mean? After a lifetime in the business, Carson knew - intuitively and through practical experience (Joan Rivers!!) - that most of the people who were nice to him were BS-artists who trafficked in the fluff and ephemera of show-biz. They were NICE but only superficially "nice." Ed was the real deal.
Evidence? He could have sold a Carson memoir for millions - you know, one of those hideous tomes about the "real" Johnny Carson that would have forced you to take a shower after/ or while reading... And don't think that for someone who lost hundreds of millions, as Ed did over the last few years, that that wouldn't have been a temptation.
For almost half a century, Ed was the consummate loyalist: He never said a cross word about JC, and never told tales out of school. He was - in other words - a genuine friend, in a place (Hollywood) where genuine friends are as common as polar bears.
So here's to Ed, lying in bed with a broken neck and wondering when the repo man will come knocking. He's a good man and a loyal friend. Nothing wrong with that. Reference Here>>
Hhhheeeeeerrrree, at MAXINE, we will long live the memory, and style of Ed McMahon.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
Ladeen's Analysis: Iran And The Lust For Freedom
The world, especially the President of the United States, Barack Obama, expected that Ahmadinejad would be replaced as President in Iran's national election over the weekend but this was not the case.
Barack felt that the speech he gave a few days earlier would have convenienced the ruling class Mullahs to allow a different result than to have Ahmadinejad serve another term as their figurehead as President. As far as an election goes, there are no real elections in Iran unless the ruling Mullahs want to spend the time to actually count all of the individual paper ballots that were cast.
The citizens, however, actually believed that their vote counted and wondered how this could be that Ahmadinejad could win as President since everyone else they talked with, voted for ... the other guy - Mousavi.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
To get people caught up, Hugh Hewitt decided to devote his three hour nationally syndicated radio program on the election and the street protests that were happening throughout Iran's capitol city, Tehran. The BBC reported that an estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets on June 15, 2009 to protest the declaration of Ahmadinejad the winner in just a couple of hours after the polls closed.
The following is a transcript of an interview of Michael Ladeen, long recognized as a leading expert on Middle East affairs.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
This transcript has been excerpted and edited from Hugh Hewitt's Townhall Blog - Michael Ledeen's take on the Iranian election crisis. Monday, June 15, 2009 at 9:42 PM
HH: I’m joined now by Michael Ledeen, who probably has forgotten more about Iran than almost everyone commenting on it right now. Michael, welcome, it’s great to have you on today.
ML: Thank you.
HH: Is the regime in Iran in trouble enough that conceivably it could be toppled?
ML: Yes, it certainly is, and the fact that they’re apparently bringing in foreigners for crowd control shows that they do not have confidence even in their own thugs. They seem to have brought in Hezbollah from Syria and Lebanon.
HH: And the fact that…
ML: And there are stories, and there’s rumors, I mean, who knows, but there’s rumors that there are Venezuelans running around, too.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: Given that, what are you looking for, Michael Ledeen, as a sign of the regime cracking?
ML: I’m looking for two things. I’m looking for denunciations of the regime and of the elections and of the violence by senior ayatollahs, and I’m looking for significant defections from the Revolutionary Guard. And that may be happening.
HH: And why do you say may be happening?
ML: Because there’s, you know, there’s reports of Revolutionary Guard guys that refused to shoot and wouldn’t beat up people, and told people we’re with them. I mean, this whole thing is being chronicled on Tweeter, as you undoubtedly know.
HH: Yeah…
ML: And I mean, even while we’re, the short time that you and I have been talking, there’s 215 more posts on Tweeter…
HH: Twitter. ---- ML: Twitter, yes.
HH: Michael Ledeen, in terms of the American response from the Obama administration, how do you rate it? What do you want them to do?
ML: I want them to support Iranian freedom. I want them to support the Iranian people. I want them to denounce the violence against peaceful demonstrators. I mean, I want them to stand up for American values all over the world, but they’re not doing it. They’re running away from it.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: What did you make of Biden’s comments on Meet The Press yesterday?
ML: Incoherent, as usual.
HH: Yeah.
ML: I mean, Biden is a marvel of incoherence. ---- HH: Now I talked to Amir Taheri a couple weeks back, and he described this convoluted governing structure that they’ve got, the six to ten different sources of authority in Iran. Does the Iranian Army have an independent will divorced from the mullahs, Michael Ledeen, that might bring it…
ML: Oh, absolutely. No, the army has made it clear that they’re not going to intervene in this. They’re not going to start shooting citizens. No way. And the regime knows it. And the regime doesn’t even trust the Revolutionary Guards. I mean, what they’re using mostly here are Basij, who are the fanatical, religious sadists that have always been used to put down demonstrations of women and children and so forth, and then these foreigners. I think the regime is extremely worried.
The Basij are a volunteer force who are sworn to defend the regime and the Supreme Leader at all costs. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: Explain to people who the Basij are.
ML: The Basij are a volunteer force of mostly young, religious fanatics who are sworn to defend the regime and the Supreme Leader at all costs, and so forth, and they’re not very well paid, and they’re not very well treated. I mean, they’re sort of a proletarian force, and widely despised by educated and cultured people. But they are effective at intimidating, and they’re the ones probably who have been doing the killing. They’re undoubtedly the ones who assaulted the University of Tehran, broke into the dormitories and started killing people. And they’re probably the ones who have been doing the shooting in the big rallies. By the way, BBC of all places, which most Iranians think is not sympathetic to their cause, said that there were between one and two million people at that demonstration today.
The Basij are a volunteer force who are sworn to defend the regime and the Supreme Leader at all costs. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: Yeah, Michael Ledeen, you’ve written not one but two comprehensive books on Iran. Have any of the American major networks called you yet?
ML: No.
The Basij are a volunteer force who are sworn to defend the regime and the Supreme Leader at all costs. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: Now I am appalled at the nature of the coverage we’re getting. Is anyone doing a good job? I actually think Totten and Sullivan are doing pretty good jobs, but who else?
ML: Yeah, I think Sullivan’s been doing a good job. I agree that Michael Totten’s doing a good job. I mean, but these are blogs. Pajamas Media is doing a great job where I blog. Huffington Post is doing a good job, interestingly enough, even though you know, they’re pro-Obama by and large. I don’t know about the networks. I don’t watch television. People tell me Fox News has been trying to keep up. It’s very hard to keep up with this. I mean, it’s hard for a TV network, because the feed out of Iran is of course censored. And I’m sure that foreign journalists have been thrown out by now. One was arrested, a Belgian journalist.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: Now important is Western media coverage to the actual events on the ground, Michael Ledeen?
ML: I don’t know. There are these heartbreaking posts on Twitter and on YouTube from kids over there who are saying where are world leaders? Why is nobody standing up for us? And they follow it, and I’ve seen a couple of enthusiastic things saying ABC News was pretty good. There’s a whole site on Twitter now called #CNNfail, which you can imagine what that’s all about.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: What did you make of Ahmadinejad’s press conference with Christianne Amanpour throwing him a softball, having him discard it, and having her throw the softball again?
ML: Well, she’s one of the worst. She’s always been one of the worst on Iran, so that’s no surprise. We knew that. ---- HH: Michael Ledeen, I’m going to have a guy named Frank Dowse on to end the show today. He’s an international security consultant, because he and I agree if the regime gets desperate enough, they’ll start grabbing any Westerner they can, preferably Americans as a way of diverting attention. Do you believe that’s a genuine threat?
ML: Well, they might do that, but this has gone way beyond things like that. I mean, this is an all-out street confrontation right now. And there’s going to be a winner and a loser, and that’s all there is to it. And if the regime loses, we’re going to see hanging from streetlights.
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million citizens took to the streets of Tehran June 15, 2009. Image Credit: mousavi1388's flickr photostream
HH: I just had a caller say Mousavi’s got bloodier hands than Ahmadinejad from the beginning of the regime, but it doesn’t matter, he was the vehicle for people’s repressed desire for freedom. Do you agree with that assessment?
ML: Well, we’ve had revolutionaries who turned against the regime in the past. There’s nothing new there.
HH: Interesting.
ML: I mean, the fact is that all kinds of experts, including CIA experts, have been saying for years to people like me who said that revolution in Iran was easy if we would just support it. They were saying that you can’t have a revolution, because there’s no leader. Well, of all the unlikely leaders, here’s Mousavi, who was you know, who was there at the beginning, who was a loyal servant of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and all of that, and yet he is a revolutionary figure. Even more than he is his wife. That’s the revolutionary fact that a lot of people have missed.
HH: Michael Ledeen, we’ll check with you throughout the week. Thank you, friend.
Headline banner showing how CBS News uses the Alinsky method of Radical/Progressive thought and tactics. Image Credit: CBS News via Fausta's Blog MEDIA WATCH - Alinsky’s children: CBS, TNR and Andrew Sullivan
A Blog entry prompted by a headline that appeared on an Opinion piece posted at CBS News. It appears that CBS had reworked a piece that had run in The New Republic and changed the opinions around to meet their agenda using Alinsky's rules - targeting, personalization, polarization, and personification ... The plight of the Iranians is just another opportunity.
Saul Alinsky is the father of Radical/Progressive thought and tactics and the references in this posting highlight the use of these tactics.
This excerpted and edited from Fausta's Blog -
Alinsky’s children: CBS, TNR and Andrew SullivanFausta's Blog - June 15th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Acomprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots from last year’s presidential election reveals that George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward.
But it’s time to slander, so Andrew Sullivan was over at The Atlantic saying that Ahmadinejad is Karl Rove. The link takes you to Stacy’s post; if you want to check out Sillivan’s post you go there. Sullivan never misses a chance to indulge his Sarah Palin fixation, while at it,
Ahmadinejad’s bag of tricks is eerily like that of Karl Rove - the constant use of fear, the exploitation of religion, the demonization of liberals, the deployment of Potemkin symbolism like Sarah Palin.
What is even more bizarre is Sullivan’s recurrent and perverse focus on Palin’s children, which he constantly indulges in his posts, about which Althouse comments,
And why should the governor of a state be called an “attention-starved celebreality star”? Is it because you don’t respect her as a politician? You might call everyone with the nerve to run for President/Vice President an attention-starved celebreality star, but the fact is you don’t. Apparently, it’s because she’s got kids who do things that you think we can sit back and view as objects of idle amusement. If anyone is to be a politician — in your nasty little world — their kids better toe the line and stay perfectly prim and healthy and smart (or hide).
But back to Sullivan’s first post: Iran is a Red State:
Think of this regime as Cheney and Rove in a police state setting, and you see what’s been going on. (Of course, Rove and Cheney live within a democratic system utterly unlike Iran, and there’s no evidence they would violate democratic norms as Khamenei just did. But their demagoguery, abuse of the state, dedication to conflict abroad, co-optation of the armed forces, and manipulation of rural and religious voters all have parallels in Red State Iran.)
So what Sullivan’s saying, in his heightened consciousness and loftier intellect which given the chance he probably will humbly acknowledge, is that he would have you believe that voters in red state America don’t vote out of their own free will since Karl and Dick manipulate them any which way, through the deployment of Czarist shams like Sarah Palin and her children. From there to taking the leap and equating George Bush = Ahmadinejad is simply putting the icing on the metaphorical cake, or am I missing something here?
What these statements in CBS, TNR, Sullivan and others have in common is Alinsky’s rules:
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
“One of the criteria for picking the target is the target’s vulnerability … the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract.”
Targeting, personalization, polarization, and personification: The plight of the Iranians is just another opportunity. Reference Here>>
Rosie O'Donnell, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and James von Brunn have a lot more in common than not. All have a problem with "Neocons" and two of the three are clear that they have a fear of the power of Jews ... and believe that 9/11/2001 was not the result of jetliners being hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. Imagine that! Image Credit: Combined by Edmund Jenks (2009)
Of Rosie O'Donnell, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and James von Brunn ...
An odd observation and investigation shows intersections of thought and philosophy shared by these three people and it begins to suggest that they all were reading from the same prayer book.
The issues in common are quite startling in their common themes and the fact that few mainstream media outlets have gone out of their way to show this linkage.
Let us build out from the 88 year old center of this observation - as they say ... age before beauty.
James von Brunn (who Alumni relations at Washington University in St. Louis has confirmed they have record of a James Von Brunn who entered school there in 1938 and graduated in 1943 with a journalism degree) has as his MSM profile - is a hater of Jews, denies that the Holocaust ever happened, feels that the Neocon movement (neoconservative movement that gained strength after 9/11/2001) is nothing more than Jews trying to hijack our political system, and is a 9/11 "Truther" (the concept that passenger jetliners filled with passengers never happened and was a conspiracy by the Bush Administration to lead us into war in the Middle east).
This excerpted and edited from CBS News -
Von Brunn Charged In Holocaust Museum Slay 88-Year-Old White Supremacist Faces Murder Charges After Allegedly Shooting Security Guard CBS News - WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11, 2009
Joseph Persichini, assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI field office, said authorities found a notebook in von Brunn's vehicle with names on it. Earlier, it was reported that he was found in possession of a list of Capitol Hill lawmakers.
In the notebook, von Brunn said that President Obama was "created by Jews" and "does what his Jew owners tell him to do," according the the criminal complaint filed Thursday. ---- The Homeland Security Department called the shooting a criminal incident and said it does not appear to have a connection to terrorism, according to a joint Homeland Security and FBI assessment issued Wednesday. The assessment, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, said von Brunn is associated with right-wing extremism. Reference Here>>
This excerpted and edited from Associated Content -
James Von Brunn Rampage Causes Media Firestorm Crazed Conspiracy Nut Hated Blacks, Jews, Chistians, Bush, McCain, and "Neocons" June 11, 2009 by Mark Whittington - Associated Content
The big problem is that the list of James Von Brunn's hatreds went somewhat beyond the stereotypical blacks and Jews that such people usually think are out to take over the world. Apparently James Von Brunn hated George W. Bush. John McCain, and "Neocons" according to a report in the Washington Examiner. James Von Brunn was a 9/11 "truther" (i.e., someone who thought 9/11 was the result on an inside conspiracy and not the act of 19 crazed Muslims.) James Von Brunn even hated Christians, according to Francis Beckwith, and blamed them for the fall of the Roman Empire and the decline of the "Aryan Race."
What emerges about James Von Brunn is a portrait of a disturbed old man with a variety of peeves that don't fit very neatly into the left/right spectrum. Reference Here>>
It is widely known that Rosie O'Donnell believed as James von Brunn - i.e., someone who thought 9/11 was the result on an inside conspiracy and not the act of 19 crazed Muslims.
In March 2007, she said, "I do believe that it is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics for the World Trade Center Tower 7 … which collapsed in on itself. It is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved. … World Trade 1 and 2 got hit by planes; seven, miraculously, the first time in history, steel was melted by fire."
Also, Rosie has been known to rant on The View about the effect of Neocons (liberal speak for a pro-Israel foreign policy) on the Bush Administration years.
But this next news item about Reverend Jeremiah Wright is stunning in it's similarity to the statements of James von Brunn.
This excerpted and edited from the Daily Press -
Rev. Jeremiah Wright says "Jews" are keeping him from President Obama By DAVID SQUIRES - 6:19 PM EDT, June 10, 2009
In an exclusive interview at the 95th annual Hampton University Ministers' Conference, Wright told the Daily Press that he has not spoken to his former church member since Obama became president, and he implied that the White House won't allow Obama to talk to him.
"Them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me," Wright said. "I told my baby daughter that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office. ...
"They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is. ... I said from the beginning: He's a politician; I'm a pastor. He's got to do what politicians do."
"Ethnic cleansing is going on in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing (by) the Zionist is a sin and a crime against humanity, and they don't want Barack talking like that because that's anti-Israel," Wright said.
Reactions to Wright's comments regarding Jews and Israel lit up Internet message boards and political blogs around the nation on Wednesday, and sparked national TV requests for an audio recording of the interview. ---- In the interview after a nighttime sermon Tuesday at the ministers conference, Wright offered that he has no regrets over the controversy that resulted in a severed relationship with Obama, a former member of the Chicago church of which Wright was the longtime pastor.
"Regret for what ... that the media went back five, seven, 10 years and spent $4,000 buying 20 years worth of sermons to hear what I've been preaching for 20 years?
"Regret for preaching like I've been preaching for 50 years? Absolutely none."
Wright said that when he went to the polls, he did not hold any grudge against Obama.
"Of course I voted for him — he's my son. I'm proud of him," Wright said. "I've got five biological kids. They all make mistakes and bad choices. I haven't stopped loving any of them.
"He made mistakes. He made bad choices. I've got kids who listen to their friends. He listened to those around him. I did not disown him." Reference Here>>
Now we have to ask ... are the views stated by Reverend Jeremiah Wright above and the beliefs stated by Rosie O'Donnell those of any person associated with right-wing extremism?
The Greeks named the sun Helios, but the Romans used the name Sol, which is still in use today. Due to the important role the sun plays in our lives, it has been studied, perhaps, more than any other object in the universe, outside our own planet Earth. Image Credit: SOHO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) consortium
The SUN, Not AGW, Is The Thing
Riding here on the Oblate Spheroid, it is easy to get lost in and amongst all the humanity and forget the connections to the natural cycles that have formed the orb we populate.
Take Climate Change (aka - Global Warming and Climate Stabilization), for example - many are putting forth a concept the the major influence on why the climate of this planet varies is related to human activity.
The hypothesis focuses upon the effects for accumulations of "Green House Gasses" as in CO2 ... the used air we exhale. In none of these calculations, however, do these people (many who look to control human behavior and profit off of business activity centered upon this control) take into account that plants take in CO2, and through osmosis give off Oxygen, and further, none of these hypothesis account for the largest functioning body in our specific solar system ... The SUN!
Past studies have shown that sunspot numbers correspond to warming or cooling trends. The twentieth century has featured heightened activity, indicating a warming trend. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Solar activity has shown a major spike in the twentieth century, corresponding to global warming. This cyclic variation was acknowledged by a recent NASA study, which reviewed a great deal of past climate data. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
This excerpted and edited from Daily Tech -
NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past WarmingReport indicates solar cycle has been impacting Earth since the Industrial Revolution Michael Andrews - June 4, 2009 9:37 AM
Some researchers believe that the solar cycle influences global climate changes. They attribute recent warming trends to cyclic variation. Skeptics [read this as control profiteers], though, argue that there's little hard evidence of a solar hand in recent climate changes.
Now, a new research report from a surprising source may help to lay this skepticism to rest. A study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland looking at climate data over the past century has concluded that solar variation has made a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The report concludes that evidence for climate changes based on solar radiation can be traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution.
Past research has shown that the sun goes through eleven year cycles. At the cycle's peak, solar activity occurring near sunspots is particularly intense, basking the Earth in solar heat. According to Robert Cahalan, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Right now, we are in between major ice ages, in a period that has been called the Holocene."
Thomas Woods, solar scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder concludes, "The fluctuations in the solar cycle impacts Earth's global temperature by about 0.1 degree Celsius, slightly hotter during solar maximum and cooler during solar minimum. The sun is currently at its minimum, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2012."According to the study, during periods of solar quiet, 1,361 watts per square meter of solar energy reaches Earth's outermost atmosphere. Periods of more intense activity brought 1.4 watts per square meter (0.1 percent) more energy. ---- The inconvertible fact, here is that even NASA's own study acknowledges that solar variation has caused climate change in the past. And even the study's members, mostly ardent supports of AGW [anthropogenic global warming] theory, acknowledge that the sun may play a significant role in future climate changes. Reference Here>>
Vegas Woman Wins Miss U.S. Pole Dance Federation 2009! 2009 US Pole Dance champion: Jenyne Butterfly [ctrl-click for video]. Image Credit: U.S. Pole Dance Federation
Late Spring 2009 Pole Dancing Competitions - Olympic Sport?
There is a whole wold of organized gymnastic and athletic competition that has taken place over the last full month and few people really are aware of it taking place.
Sure, there was a little write up in SI.com, but nothing really on a mainstream media scale that would bring serious attention to the art and athletic competition and the serious nature on which the progressive structure (regionals, nationals, then international) of the competition takes in which a world champion is decided.
The competition is Pole Dancing. Ok, so the art and athletic form got its start as a method by which female entertainers, who took off their clothes, could separate men from their money.
In the United States, there is a formal association set up to bring standards and an official program of competition to the process named the US Pole Dance Federation or USPDF.
2009 US Pole Dance Federation Competition
2009 Pole Dance World Finals Competition Winner
This excerpted and edited from an internet PDF version of SI.com -
A live report from the US Pole Dance Championship Monday March 16, 2009 10:07AM; Updated: Monday March 16, 2009 3:12PM By Jacob E. Osterhout
While most sports fans eagerly awaited the NCAA Tournament bracket on Sunday, I headed over to the Bleeker Street Theatre in New York City for a very different sort of Selection Sunday.
The US Pole Dance Federation, better known to acronym lovers as the USPDF, was hosting the first annual US Pole Dance Championship. Twelve female contestants, chosen from more than 50 applicants, would be competing for the honor of representing the United States at Miss Pole Dance Australia 2009 and for a spot on the cover of next month's Pole2Pole Magazine. ---- The dress code from the USPDF rulebook states, "No nudity, no G-strings or thongs. Violation of this requirement leads to immediate disqualification."
As contestant Denise Brown a happily married mother of two from Tennessee said, "We are not strippers and it is not a stripper pole unless someone is taking off their clothes. Sure, a form of pole dancing is exotic, but that's not all there is to it. Pole dancing is really about fitness, athleticism and artistic design." ---- But while pole dancing has certainly gone from erotic to aerobic, not all the sensuality has been lost. At the championship, five-inch heels, belly-button rings and tattoos were just as prevalent as washboard abs, well-toned biceps and calves the size of peaches. ---- According to competition rules, contestants compete in two rounds: a 60-90 second compulsory round with required elements, and a 3-5 minute optional round in which competitors choreograph their own routine. A panel of three judges then selects the winner based on execution, transition, originality, difficulty, flexibility, and sex appeal. ---- The favorite entering Sunday's championship, at least according to the contestants, seemed to be Jenyne Butterfly, a petite blonde from Eastern Washington. Despite her diminutive stature, Butterfly had already won pole dance competitions across the nation, including the highly regarded Pole-a-palooza in Las Vegas, which she has won three years in a row. ---- But catching a butterfly is a tricky task. The favorite took the stage as the night's second to last performance and showed why she truly is "The Pole Queen." Dressed in a white two-piece outfit and veil, Butterfly lived up to her name. She defied gravity. At times, one arm supported the entire weight of her outstretched body. Her moves were elegant, her transitions seamless. By the time Butterfly capped off her performance with her signature "flag move" -- think of her as the flag on a flagpole -- the capacity crowd was on its feet.
And while the judges took 10 minutes to give the appearance of a formal debate, everyone knew the winner had already been decided. Jenyne Butterfly was the 2009 US Pole Dance Champion.
"It feels really good," Butterfly said afterwords as the crowd streamed out the theater. "I've never won a medal for pole dancing before. Normally, they just hand me an envelope of money."
And with a slight smile, the champ sauntered away from the stage to find her boyfriend and grab a bite to eat.
After all, a girl can work up quite an appetite winning a national championship. Reference Here>>
Can you see this as an Olympic event? The competitors would have to wear a unitard or the like.
My wife just asked me ... What?! Did you write about ... Pole Dancing?
As I told her, this was actually and interesting topic given the fact that the competitors actually take the performance as a serious enterprise and athletic art expression.
She chilled after she saw the video examples. I guess one needs the 6" heels just to get a "leg-up" as it were - sorry, couldn't resist.
A young TEA Party Anti-Tax Rally participant urging a NO vote to the tax increase propositions put forth in today's special election. Image Credit: Keith Brock (2009)
THAT's ... NO on Propositions 1A-F Today!
I voted and got interviewed by Mark Coogan of KCBS2/KCAL9 News. He said to tune in at 12:00 Noon on Channel 9 here in Los Angeles, and if they use the piece they taped, it will show then.
The interview went pretty well ... well enough for Mark to ask me after the interview, if I wanted to run for elected office? - Yea, Riiiiight!
The basics of the interview went like this, Mark asked how I voted on Propositions 1A-F and my opinion on why, with some follow-up questions having to do with the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I told Mr. Coogan that I voted NO on Propositions 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, 1-E, and even 1-F ... 'cuz I hate the cynicism. Mark said, even 1-F?, the Proposition that freezes pay raises of lawmakers if the budget isn't balanced? ... and I said yep, even F because the elected officials will just increase their office budgets, per diems, and other benefits of the office. Mark then offered, "... you know, there is a state law that requires a balanced budget." Apparently, he didn't like the cynicism shown by our Lawmakers either.
Ok, so why did you vote down the tax raising measures? asked Mark.
Well, it isn't so much the we are not being taxed enough money to run the Government, it is more about that they are spending way too much money, to run the Government!"
Then Mark Coogan began to ask me a question or two about Arnold Schwarzenegger. He began by saying, You know that the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of the state in Washington D.C., what do you think that says?
"Well, to be honest, If I were him (Arnold), I'd be in Washington D.C. too." I responded.
He is making a big deal about fuel efficiency standards, and Barack Obama wants to drive the rest of the country in this direction. The Government, our Government wants to force us all to be driving "Clown Cars", can you imagine a family of nine riding around on a Segway? That is their vision."
Coogan went on to ask (paraphrased) ... how did you vote at the time of the recall of the newly elected Governor, Grey Davis? I told him that I voted for Arnold, but after he was in Sacramento, he turned his back on the people who put him into office.
I then said, "He might have been able to to lift very heavy weights, early in his career, but his weight lifting days are way over. All he knows how to do now is spend and capitulate ... he has become the kind of people we voted him into office to control."
There was more conversation, but most of those comments were not recorded and I found Mark Coogan a fun and interesting person to talk with.
The point of this post, other than being a bit self-promotional, is that this is a very important day for California voters, and to a greater degree, the country. If everyone who votes feels they have just the least little bit of power to revolt through the use of their vote, then that is the purpose of this post, this day in California, and what it may trigger throughout the country.
I asked the cameraman if could send me the video file, he said maybe but made no promises.
Organized by We Surround Them Palm Springs, the TEA Party Anti-Tax Rally was a great success. Anytime on can have the local police begin to get upset and exert control over a peaceful enterprize, maybe one is touching a nerve. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)
Palm Springs TEA Party Anti-Tax Rally
The actual crowd was estimated to be a little less than 100 people. The event was very closely watched and monitored by the local police department and they responded quickly to any complaint of excessive noise.
This type of attention caught me off guard, in that, I was in Palm Springs soon after the November elections last year and witnessed a rally that had been organized by the people who were against Proposition 8 (the constitutional amendment defining marriage as being only between a man and a women). The proposition passed, as expected, by a wide margin, and those who wanted the proposition to be defeated were not happy. The rally managed to have about 50 or so cars parade down Palm Canyon Drive, at a very slow pace and have all of the cars horns HONK as the passengers hang out holding "NO On Eight" signs and placards. It was quite a show to watch as one was trying to share time with friends and family over dinner at the local California Pizza Kitchen. The conversation was nearly impossible.
After the parade, the participants roamed up and down the Drive, loudly making sure everyone knew of their displeasure at the measure (Prop 8) passing. The local police did nothing to quell this disturbance ... on this evening and about this issue.
Today, the police were vigilant, and it was hard to understand why ... until one realizes what WE were out on the street protesting about.
The crowd was on Palm Canyon Drive to bring attention to spending measures that our state government had drafted and placed on a ballot for a special election to be held in just a few days on May 19th, so that they, the state, could continue to spend money at a record rate. We all were tired of having the highest taxes of most any of the fifty states, the highest corporate taxes of most any of the fifty states, and it is time to STOP THE MADNESS!
The measures to be voted on are named Propositions 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, 1-E, and 1-F --- to go on and parse each and every proposition, to be honest, is pointless because each of the propositions were drafted for and by a government that is in the middle of OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING ... and they wish to continue the practice. Not passing these measures on May 19, 2009 will send a message that the State of California can not go along doing business as usual.
Many hand made/home made signs designed to inform and get a reaction from passersby. The rally was held in the noonday sun of an early sping Friday with the temperature approaching 100 degrees, Fahrenheit. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2009)
The local police are government workers and are dependent upon what the state government does, so anything that works against the government, receives attention. This is why the protesters along Palm Canyon Drive needed to be reined in ... on the attention level we were creating.
Vote NO on Propositions 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, 1-E, and 1-F to send a message to the politicians who are elected to protect our, the tax paying citizens, interests. It is time to STOP THE MADNESS and have the state government stop the spending - period.
Tomorrow, another, much larger event is planned for the Federal Building in Westwood on Westwood Blvd just East of the 405 Freeway. If you happen to be in the area around 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM PDT, please show up and show support for a no vote on Propositions 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, 1-E, and 1-F.
If you're fed up with the Presidential politics, and want to get away from it with a little Xbox escapism, don't play Burnout Paradise. The racing game features VIRTUAL BILLBOARDS URGING GAMERS TO VOTE FOR OBAMA. Is the addition of political ads in console games change you can believe in? Caption & Image Credit: therawfeed.com
The Tripe With TARP & The Obama-Nation
The Troubled Asset Relief Fund (TARP) was originally created by the Bush Administration to help as a buffer for homeowners, who were in trouble of loosing their home when the flexible interest rates of the “sub-prime” mortgages they had used to initially purchase their home … increased. The idea was to be able to have the mortgages reset, or better, renegotiated to a level that the mortgages providers would not have their financial instruments be defaulted on by the people who had committed to pay the mortgages.
By having about 700 Billion dollars of TARP (read that as taxpayer money) set aside, the Federal Government felt that banks would be less inclined to foreclose on, or end the financial contract and the economy would remain relatively level and undisrupted.
This may have been effective … MAY … if the Federal Government applied the monies only where there they were needed. What has happened, however, is a massive level of “mission creep” where the Federal Government has decided to force all financial institutions to take money TARP money in exchange for specialized preferred stock, and if these banks did not participate, they would suffer additional activity brought about through audits and other Governmental investigative activity that hinders a bank from transacting a profitable business.
Further, the Federal Government unilaterally converted the Preferred Stock (non-ownership type) to Common Stock (ownership type) and now own an interest in the banks themselves … and remember, many of these institutions never participated in the issuing and selling of mortgages that are the topic of the TARP monies and/or do not have any loans in default.
The Federal Government forced a transition of ownership of privately held, once profitable businesses to be under the management control and influence of Federal Government bureaucrats who have never managed a private business for profit … in the first place.
The above description is an ugly enough scenario without looking at the additional uses of the original Troubled Asset Relief Fund (TARP).
Transportation Stock and Bond Certificates - Chrysler Corporation, Delaware, USA, 1970: $1,000 Sinking Fund Debenture certificate featuring the famous "Chrysler" radiator cap flanked by allegorical female character and company logos. Also includes traffic scenes showing old trucks and vintage cars in the background. Walter P. Chrysler, formerly of Buick and Willys, acquired Maxwell-Chalmers in 1923 and the first car bearing his name was produced in 1924. Chrysler laid the foundations for a motor empire to rival General Motors and Ford when he took over Dodge and launch the Plymouth Four and the De Soto Six in 1928. Punch cancelled. Scarce. VF+ - Red (12" x 8") $95.00 - Image Credit: stocksearchintl.com
This item published three days before Barack Obama took office excerpted and edited from the Washington Post –
U.S. Expands Aid To Auto Industry
Chrysler Financial Gets $1.5 Billion From Treasury; Ford Credit in Talks
By David Cho and Kendra Marr - Washington Post Staff Writers - Saturday, January 17, 2009; Page D02
The government expanded its bailout of the nation's troubled auto industry yesterday, announcing a new $1.5 billion loan for Chrysler Financial while Ford Credit said it was in talks to obtain federal aid.
The money for Chrysler Financial will come from the government's $700 billion financial rescue program. Senior officials from the Treasury and Federal Reserve are hoping the assistance, combined with earlier support for General Motors' chief lender GMAC, will keep auto loans flowing until the two agencies can make more funds available for credit cards, student loans and small business loans.
The developments came on a frantic last work day at the Treasury Department, as officials pushed out the door several key deals and announcements related to the rescue program, known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.
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Last fall, Paulson told lawmakers that the TARP would be used to buy bad assets. But soon after the bill was approved by Congress in early October, he moved away from the idea to provide more direct aid to financial institutions.
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The moves to aid the financing arms of the nation's automakers draw the federal government more deeply into Detroit's troubles.
To date, the government has committed TARP money to provide $17.4 billion for General Motors and Chrysler, $6 billion for GMAC, and now the new loan to back Chrysler Financial.
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"We're still funding our business," said Ford Credit spokeswoman Margaret Mellott, who confirmed the talks, which have been going on for months. "We have strong liquidity . . . It's an ongoing dialogue to free up credit."
Although Ford has said it can survive without federal aid or intervention, it continues asking to be treated the same as its struggling cross-town rivals GM and Chrysler.
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The support for Chrysler Financial is structured differently than most other loans the Treasury has made from the TARP. Instead of investing money directly into Chrysler Financial, the company is creating a special entity that will receive the government loan. Chrysler Financial can then withdraw those funds to make new auto loans.
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In addition, Chrysler Financial agreed to reduce by 40 percent the pool of bonus money for its senior executives relative to the 2007 levels, among other limitations on what it can pay its top officials.
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"This will provide a great economic stimulus for car buyers across the country," Jim Press, Chrysler vice chairman and president said in a statement.
Chrysler Financial applied for TARP funds in November. In December, Chrysler's sales slid 53 percent compared with the corresponding month a year before.
"This funding will better position us to withstand the current economic challenges until funding becomes available through more traditional commercial sources," said Thomas F. Gilman, vice chairman and chief executive of Chrysler Financial in a statement.
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Yesterday was supposed to be their last day of work, but many senior Treasury officials kept their government-issued BlackBerrys rather than turn them in. They were given Federal Express envelopes to ship their devices next week, in case they had to work over the weekend.
So, just about three months down the road, Chrysler declares bankruptcy!
The company is broken up into several parts where the United Auto Workers Union becomes the majority share owner – surprise, surprise.
Oh, and the people who invested their money in good faith in the company to get a return on their investment protected by our country’s bankruptcy laws which stipulate that the primary share owners are first honored? The Obama Administration shafted their interests and moved them to the back of the line only allowing them, the investors, a chance at a loss on their investment.
MODERN TIMES: If only the UAW were such a victim as they are depicted here in this R.J. Matson cartoon. The worker caught in a web of gears waiting to crush them up - the truth is that with a 55% ownership of Chrysler, THEY ARE the gears ... they had created through negotiation and now own. Image Credit: R.J. Matson, The New York Observer
This excerpted and edited from CBS News –
Chrysler Bankruptcy Exposes Dirty Politics
Declan McCullagh: Obama Calls Creditors Who Lent Money To Chrysler "Speculators," But What About the Rule Of Law?
May 7, 2009 | by Declan McCullagh
Chrysler's sad tale that led to this week's bankruptcy hearing in New York is not only an important business and political story. It also encompasses morality, the rule of law and strong-arm tactics used by some politicians.
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During its slide, Chrysler borrowed money from lenders and in return signed a contract promising that as so-called senior creditors, they'd get paid before anyone else if the company went under.
These creditors, by the way, represent something of a cross-section of America: the University of Kentucky, Kraft Foods' retirement fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pension funds, teachers' credit unions, and so on.
A normal bankruptcy filing would be straightforward. Senior creditors get paid 100 cents on the dollar. Everyone else gets in line.
But President Obama and his allies don't want that to happen. So they interfered on behalf of unions (the junior creditors) and publicly upbraided the senior creditors who were asserting their contractual rights and threatening to head to bankruptcy court.
Last week Mr. Obama lambasted them as "a small group of speculators" who "endanger Chrysler's future by refusing to sacrifice like everyone else."
Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, sent reporters a statement calling the creditors "vultures" and "rouge hedge funds." Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm piled on, taking aim during her radio address at a "few greedy hedge funds that didn't care how much pain the company's failure would have inflicted on families and communities everywhere."
It must be a coincidence that the United Auto Workers has handed $25.4 million to federal politicians over the last two decades, with 99 percent of that cash going to Democrats. And that Mr. Obama's final campaign stop on Election Day was a UAW phone bank.
If those politicians thought about this a bit more, they'd probably realize their mistake. Creditors didn't force Chrysler's management to head to the capital markets and beg for funds: It was poor management, uncompetitive wages, and a union that opposed pay cuts.
Without those greedy "vultures" and "rogues" injecting sorely-needed cash into a business they knew was risky, Chrysler might have been forced to declare bankruptcy much earlier. (And now that lenders know they may be demonized by the president, will they be as likely to help out next time?)
One of the better critiques of this unusual situation comes from Clifford Asness, managing partner at a $20 billion hedge fund named AQR Capital Management. His essay responds to what he called "toxic demagoguery" and says "the president's attempted diktat takes money from bondholders and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for him."
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A document that the non-TARP creditors filed with the bankruptcy judge about the proposed sale to Fiat says: "The sale is far from an arm's length transaction, but rather, is the result of a tainted sales process dominated by the United States government... It is a sale that was orchestrated entirely by the Treasury and foisted upon (Chrysler)... Well before the filing, (Chrysler) had ceased to function as an independent company and had become an instrumentality of the government."
So if you're keeping score, you have a bankrupt company depending on the government for money negotiating with some TARP-funded creditors depending on the government for money and still more creditors who may hold insurance policies with AIG, which depends on the government for money. And we're already hearing similar allegations about General Motors and political interference.
One disturbing report came from a well-respected attorney representing the dissident Chrysler creditors. Thomas Lauria, the head of White & Case's bankruptcy practice, says that he was threatened by Steven Rattner, the White House's auto task force chief. (A White House spokesman denies making any threats.)
"I represent one less investor today than I represented yesterday," Lauria said on a Detroit radio show. "One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That's how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence." Lauria said that his clients were willing to compromise on 50 cents on the dollar, but the government offered them only 29 cents.
In the Federalist Papers in 1788, James Madison wrote that "laws impairing the obligation of contracts are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation." Unfortunately, Washington politicians seem to pay little attention to history, morality, or the rule of law.
All of this economic upheaval and Federal Government takeover of private enterprises are only the beginning of the misuse of tax money and the trust of the American people.
Within the first six weeks, a "Stimulus" appropriations bill was passed that increased the budgets of all Federal Government entities by an average of nearly 80% followed by the "Omnibus" appropriations bill that increased the budgets of all Federal Government entities by an additional 8%. Some agencies in six weeks saw a 100% increase in the amount of tax money they could spend ... this at a time of under 4% inflation.
We, at MAXINE hope you are enjoying these first four months of Carter's Second Term!
Ed McMahon while working on behalf of the MDA 2005 Telethon. Image Credit: Charity.com
Ed McMahon in his most familiar pose, next to Johnny Carson - He's one of the few stars who used to answer his phone or return calls, without the intercession of an army of millionaire publicists or managers or agents. Image Credit: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
